Ecophysiology and Soil Science

Ireland is the EU’s largest per capita producer of greenhouse gases (GHG), with agriculture contributing over 30% of its total GHG emissions. Moreover, Ireland’s climate is expected to change considerably in the near future, with various consequences for natural and agro-ecosystems. We therefore need insight into both the role of agricultural practices in GHG production, as well as accurate predictions on plant growth and GHG emissions under future climate conditions.

Our group seeks to address these issues. Our research can be broadly divided into four focus areas:

• Agricultural mitigation strategies (e.g. growing of energy crops, increased planting of legumes, reduced tillage practices) and their effects on soil C storage and soil microbiology.
• Monitoring GHG emissions under various agricultural practices.
• Field manipulation studies to assess C and N fluxes in ecosystems under future climate conditions.
• Modeling studies to predict plant productivity and GHG emissions under future climate scenarios.

We collaborate in these studies nationally with the Agricultural Institute Teagasc and University College Dublin and across Europe as member of the CarboEurope, NitroEurope and Legume Futures projects. We are also making GHG flux measurements in tropical wetlands in Africa.